Coronavirus

With booster shots for all three COVID-19 vaccines approved by federal regulators, the Iowa Department of Public Health has issued guidance for Iowans who want to receive one of the boosters.

Cedar Rapids and Linn County are partnering to provide a combined $14 million in American Rescue Plan funds and on Wednesday will launch an online proposal process for eligible community organizations to apply for the funding.

Federal officials are expected to approve COVID-19 vaccines for children ages 5-11 by next month. What questions do you have about vaccines for children? Send them our way and we’ll work to answer them.

A month has passed since federal officials adjusted the distribution system for monoclonal antibody treatments. In that time, no provider has reported issues with meeting patient needs, state public health officials say.

Overall, infections at nursing homes in Iowa dropped 9 percent over two weeks.

Area vocal ensembles are returning from the pandemic pause with new modifications.

Nursing home leaders across the state have been working to increase the number of staff fully immunized against COVID-19. A federal mandate expected this month also aims to do the same thing -- but many across Iowa’s industry say the new rule could have a detrimental effect.

WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. regulators on Wednesday signed off on extending COVID-19 boosters to Americans who got the Moderna or …

State’s death toll now at 6,848 since March 2020. Linn County reported 15 deaths, the most of any Iowa county, in the past week.

Interim leader of the Iowa Department of Public Health answers questions during AARP town hall.

Health care systems statewide will need to continue supporting the front line staff currently responding to the ongoing pandemic, and take innovative steps to improve the strength of the workforce, local health care leaders said during the 2021 Iowa Ideas Conference hosted by The Gazette.

CDC officials have warned the U.S. could face an “early and possibly severe flu season” this year, prompting worry among local public health officials for widespread cases of both influenza and COVID-19 in the coming months

“Stay tuned,” the Republican governor told a WHO-AM talk radio host in discussing Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s decision to issue an executive order earlier this week prohibiting any entity, including businesses, from imposing COVID-19 vaccination requirements on employees or customers.

Case counts and hospitalizations continue to drop, but the COVID-19 death toll in Iowa rose this week as state public health officials confirm more fatalities as a result of the virus in recent weeks.

Of the six state-run care facilities, the two with the highest vaccine-refusal rates among their staffs have consistently been the Glenwood Resource Center for the profoundly disabled and the Boys State Training School in Eldora.